Michael Fighting
"Michael…who standeth for…thy people," — Dan. 12:1-12
WHAT DO I DO NOW?
Some of you, after reading and considering the information in Part One and Part Two, will know that the Church has excommunicated you for the crime of heresy. In most cases, you were totally ignorant of this crime. Now that you know the truth, you are required to act on it. If you are not yet sure, then you are required to study the matter until you obtain certainty.
The Church is always solicitous for the salvation of souls. She only inflicts censures for Her own good or for the correction of the person censured. We will now discuss a method for returning to the Church, which most have never left in their hearts.
Recommended Method for Return to the Church
In this article we will discuss a possible method for return, based upon the practice of the Church in similar cases, as prescribed by Canon 20.
Because the Papal See is vacant and to our knowledge all Episcopal Sees are vacant, we propose a method which does not rely on their jurisdiction, which is unobtainable. Let us remind you that no one may speak in the name of the Church in a situation such as ours. We submit our plan to the judgment of the Apostolic See, when it is again occupied and submit ourselves unconditionally to the judgment of the Pope elected. We believe the procedure for converts outlined by the Church, as reported above, also applies to us. Since we left the Church by adhering to some heretical traditionalist group or by adhering to the Conciliar Church, we must "convert" and return to the Faith. This is what we propose to outline here.
To convert, one must first learn the Faith. The practice of the Church has been to require six months of catechetical study, usually under the pastor. After this, once the Faith is known, then the person is received into the Church. Even one validly baptized is not received, until his faith has been proven. First, one receives the Faith, then he receives the sacraments. The administration of the sacraments to heretics, even only material heretics, is absolutely forbidden, as it is forbidden to cast pearls before swine. We think it insufficient to merely abjure one's heresy; one must first prove his faith and study it thoroughly, especially those parts which he implicitly denied while a traditionalist, following Vatican II or some other heresy. To this end, we propose the following practical course of action:
1. First, we must remove the cause of our excommunication. We must cease attendance at any and all traditionalist enterprises; all attendance at any and all Novus Ordo services; and the attendance at any other service by non-Catholics. One may only attend a place where a truly Catholic priest celebrates Mass, according to the ecclesiastical norms. We strongly recommend only working with priests who have gone through this same procedure themselves.
2. Return to the life of true prayer. By this, we mean prayer truly directed to God. We strongly recommend much prayer to the Holy Ghost for guidance on your trip back to the Church.
3. Abstinence from the sacraments, until the abjuration and absolution have been received. Such is a requirement of the divine law, as well as being restated by the ecclesiastical law.
4. Course of study for six months. This course should be based upon the Catechism of the Council of Trent, with special emphasis on jurisdiction, religious liberty, and infallibility. (Any other area where one has held heresy or error must be an area of particular study.) This course should be directed, if possible, by a true Catholic and should consist of an hour-long class per week, plus study on one's own. If one cannot read each and every decree of the Pope and Councils on matters of faith and morals and agree 100 percent, then one cannot yet return to the Church.
5. The abjuration of heresy and absolution.
We shall first consider the ideal which will occasionally be possible:
First is made the abjuration of heresy, which is contained in the ritual. It consists of the Profession of Faith of Trent with an addition at the beginning. This should be made in the presence of two witnesses and a priest with jurisdiction to absolve, as provided by Canon 2314. It is our opinion that the two witnesses should be Catholics, although the law does not specify this. The abjuration is made with a specific mention of the heresies which have been professed at the beginning. After the priest absolves in the external forum, then the person should go to confession to the priest and receive absolution from the sin. The abjuration and absolution should be documented.
In other cases, a priest with faculties for Confession may be available, but he does not have the faculty to absolve in the external forum:
"If, in some extraordinary case, the recourse is morally impossible, the confessor himself can grant absolution without the obligation of recourse...." (Canon 2254, par. 3.) (The recourse here mentioned is the superior who censured the person, or to whom the censure is reserved in latae sententiae censures. It is our opinion that such recourse will remain morally impossible, until a pope is elected.) This Canon applies to the absolution of a censure in the internal forum. So the heresy is confessed to the priest in Confession. Canon 2251 provides: "If the absolution is given in the internal forum, the person who obtained such an absolution may, if no scandal be given thereby, conduct himself as if absolved even in his action of the external forum." However, the only commentator who comments on the application of Canon 2254 to heresy requires the person to observe the censure in the external forum, in spite of Canon 2251, because he considers heresy of itself brings the requirement of external absolution. In a moment, we will discuss our solution to this problem. What applies here also applies in danger of death, when any priest can (according to Canons 882 and 2252) absolve from all sins and censures in the internal forum.
The third and most probable case is that of a person who does not have access to a priest with any type of Confessional faculties. Of course, this person must attempt to regain the state of grace if it has been lost, by a Perfect Act of Contrition. This case brings us to the discussion of our solution under Canon 20.
Canon 20 and a Possible Solution
In cases two and three above, the person in question cannot receive the absolution in the external forum. In a similar case, St. Thomas proposes a unique solution, when Confession is unavailable.
"I answer that, just as Baptism is a necessary Sacrament, so is Penance. And Baptism, through being a necessary Sacrament has a two-fold minister: one whose duty it is to baptize, in virtue of his office, viz. the priest and another to whom the conferring of Baptism is committed, in a case of necessity. In like manner, the minister of Penance to whom, in virtue of his office confession should be made, is a priest: but in a case of necessity, even a layman may take the place of a priest and hear a person's confession." (Supplement, Q-8, Article 2.) This supplies in any case of mortal sin, as well as that of danger of death. St. Thomas further determines that this is effective, because the penitent does his part, although absolution is not, of course, given. It should be noted, as with the Perfect Act of Contrition, this does not dispose one to receive Holy Communion, as Sacramental Confession of these sins must be made, whenever this is possible. Our proposal is based on this principle:
The person makes the abjuration of heresy in the external forum as prescribed, in the presence of two witnesses. This is all documented. This suffices until the absolution can be received in the external forum, as we prove by way of analogy above. A list of the heresies held should be made and stated before abjuring them.
It should be noted that Fr. Stanislaus Woywod, in his A Practical Commentary on the Code of Canon Law, believed that Canon 2295 and Canon 672 provide a precedent for cases of heresy, apostasy, and schism in reference to the case of infamy. (He would apparently still require absolution from the excommunication), as follows: "If he has for three years given signs of complete amendment, the religious organization is bound to receive him." (Canon 672, par. 1.) Basically, after having left one's heresy, if the one in question remains faithful for three years, he can ignore the censures. However, he must still submit them to the power of the keys, whenever that becomes possible.
